It's Not YOUR Backyard

We should use words more carefully. The acronym really should be NIYBY.

I’m sure everyone reading this has seen the acronym “NIMBY” and knows what it stands for: Not in my backyard.

Here’s the problem: People who use the term, whether they oppose it or favor it, are using words incorrectly. That matters.

If you objected to people building something in your backyard, you would be on solid ground (pun intended.) The reason is that, unless you gave them permission, they would be trespassing. Imagine someone tries to build a small cottage in my backyard without my permission. Almost everyone, whatever his or her view of housing development or housing density, would agree that that person should not be allowed to do so.

What do people really mean when they “Not in my backyard?” They mean that their neighbors shouldn’t be allowed to build in their backyard—or front yards, for that matter. So if they wanted to use words honestly, an acronym that would be much closer to the truth is “NIYBY.” This stands for “Not in your back yard.”

You can see why they don’t want to use that term: it makes explicit that they favor violating other people’s property rights.